Please post your responses to chapters 6 and beyond here for now. Because of the number of posts, you will have to select "older posts" to comment on the prologue or look at anything Beloved related. We're leaving for a family vacation tomorrow, and I'll be out of email contact and unable to update the blog until July 24th. If you need to contact me, send me a quick email and I'll reply as soon as we're back. Little Lucy, the 25 pound person who is my constant companion, sends her regards- I think that's what she said.
Chapter 6:
*Describe Dr.Bledsoe's posture as the narrator goes to his meeting.
*Why is Bledsoe so angry with the narrator?
*How are Bledsoe's ideas about black/white relations similar to those of the narrator's grandfather?
*How is repetition used to show the narrator's shock when Dr. Bledsoe calls him a "nigger"?
*How is Bledsoe's handshake an example of foreshadowing?
*What do you think of Bledsoe's decision? Was it fair? If yes, explain. If not, what were the alternatives?
*What advice would you give the narrator at this point?
*What do you think of the narrator's decisions and actions so far?
*How would you characterize Bledsoe? Will he be a help or a hinderance to the narrator as the novel progresses?
Chapter 7:
*What device appears in the vet's advice to the narrator, after he tells him to "come out of the fog?"
*What does it mean when the vet tells the narrator to be his own father?
*What allusion is used to describe the narrator's arrival in Harlem?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
At this point in the novel, what I would encourage the narrator to do is stand strong. Dr. Bledsoe is destroying him verbally and the narrator just has to stand there and take it. This will make him a better man and person to tollerate Dr. Bledsoe's outrageous reaction. Dr. Bledsoe's punishment is suitable; however, I think it is too good to be true and it's a trap.
I agree with Megan in saying that the narrator is taking the verbal criticism very well.Even Dr.Bledsoe realizes that when the narrator says that he will serve the punishment even though he does not believe that he was in the wrong.I feel that the punishment was fair because he wasn't expelling him directly.Bledsoe was letting him earn his way back in by making him pay like everyone else.Basicly it is as if Bledsoe just took away his scholarship.
I think that the way Dr. Bledsoe reacted to what the narrator did was way extreme. His punishment however, I thought was actually reasonable but I felt that it was too good to be true like Megan said. When he handed him those letters and said that he must not open them (or something like that) I knew right then that the narrator was not really going to get one of those jobs with those men. As I read on, I found my predictions to be true. Bledsoe is a definite hinderance to the narrator; well as of right now.
Dr. Bledsoe and the narrator's grandfather have very similar ideas about black/white realations. The narrator's grandfather says "I want you to overcome 'em with yeses, undermine 'em with grins, agree 'em to death and destruction" (page 16) Both Dr. Bledsoe and the narrator's grandfather believe that black people should do anything they have to do to please the white people, even if that means "putting on a mask" and acting differently or doing something he may not want to do. I think Dr. Bledsoe is a man who is determined to do whatever it takes to gain and maintain power, respect, and authority.
I think that Dr. Bledsoe is so angry with the narrator because he is afraid that Mr. Norton's experience at the college will make him look bad. I agree that dr. Bledsoe is a man that will do anything to gain power. Bledsoe is mad because the narrator could have avoided taking Mr. Norton to Trueblood's cabin. Bledsoe tells the narrator that he should have made up some lie. The narrator is in disbelief that Bledsoe would tell him to lie to such an important man. This shows how naive the narrator really is.
I agree that the letters the narrator receive from Dr. Bledsoe are too good to be true. I think that Dr. Bledsoe is just trying to get rid of the narrator. I think that the narrator's punishment is a bit harsh. He is expelled from the school but he didn't even really do anything wrong. It seems that Dr. Bledsoe is a hinderance.
The narrator repetitively refers to the word "nigger" as "that" He cannot believe that Dr. Bledsoe calls him "that". This shows that he is shocked because all he can think of to say is "that" He cannot form a complete thought.
I agree with everyone that the narrator is being very good at staying strong even when he is being criticised. I think that Dr.Bledsoe's punishment is actually reasonable because he is giving him like another chance to earn his spot back.
I was confused, as was the narrator, by Bledsoe's attitude in the beginning of thier meeting. He was almost joking and then became very angry quickly. I understand his anger. Thhe college did not need any of their white trustees to get the wrong immpression of the black community.
I think that Dr. Bledsoes reaction to the narrators actions was very uncalled for. He was to extreme in his punishment. The narrator was just trying to please Mr. Norton and it wasnt his fault that Mr. Norton fainted. He did all he could to help Mr. Norton and Dr. Bledsoe didnt take that into consideration when punishing him. Kicking him out of school was not the right thing to do at all. I think the harshest punishement he should have gotten would be to be put on academic probation for the remainder of the term. Dr. Bledoe was not fair and was cruel for giving him hopes of working in New York.
Post a Comment